Readers' favorite wine flicks

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, June 29, 2006

I certainly would have put "Sideways" head and shoulders above the rest, as you did. It's really the only movie where wine is the main theme, except for "The Secret of Santa Vittoria," a terrific 1969 movie about a village in Italy attempting to keep its only resource, a million bottles of wine, from the Germans during World War II.

Anthony Quinn is the bumbling mayor, and he is brilliant. The townspeople are totally united in their silence.

The last scene is priceless. The Germans finally give up and have to move on. As a token of his generosity, Quinn gives them a bottle of wine and tells them that, in fact, there are a million more where that came from! As the Germans leave he laughs in their face.

DOUGLAS HOUGH

I really enjoyed your article and list of wine-themed movies. My forgotten favorite is "Silver Streak" (1976). Champagne plays a major plot point in this comedy-thriller. Early in the movie, there's a scene in which Gene Wilder's character tries to impress Jill Clayburgh's character in a train's dining car by ordering Champagne, in French!